RALEIGH, N.C. — The goaltending matchup was Alex Lyon against Joel Hofer.
The American Hockey League? Not Saturday.
It was the Carolina Hurricanes versus the St. Louis Blues as two players who began the season as their team’s No. 3 option in net faced off at PNC Arena.
Lyon and the Canes were the winners, emerging with a 3-2 victory as Lyon finished with 27 saves in his first start for Carolina.
Defenseman Brendan Smith’s goal with 2:57 left in regulation, on a bomb from the left point, was his first of the season and pushed the Canes ahead 3-2. The Blues soon emptied the net, pulling Hofer for a sixth attacker but could not tie it.
A day after allowing a lead slip away in the third period, the Canes (11-2-0) again took a one-goal lead into the final period. And again, the lead would have been larger had rookie forward Seth Jarvis not had a goal taken away from him.
Again, the Canes could not keep the lead in the third. The Blues tied it 2-2 in the first minute of the third as Vladimir Tarasenko knocked in a rebound and it stayed 2-2 until Smith’s big shot.
Brady Skjei’s first goal of the season, in the first period, and Sebatian Aho’s power-play goal in the second handed the Canes a 2-0 lead. The Blues (8-3-2) countered with a power-play score from Pavel Buchnevich in the second, then Tarasenko’s strike 48 seconds into the third.
For Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour, the goaltending decision was an easy one. Frederik Andersen started 11 of the first 12 games, played Friday against Philadelphia and needed a rest.
With goalie Raanta still recovering from a concussion, it was Lyon’s turn to make his Hurricanes debut. It was the 23rd career NHL game for the former Yale goalie, who was recalled from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL on Nov. 7, a day after Raanta was injured at Florida.
It was a similar decision for Blues coach Craig Berube. Jordan Bennington had started 10 games and needed a night off, allowing Hofer to make his second NHL start.
It was a big night for Blues defenseman Justin Faulk, who returned to PNC Arena for the first time since being traded by Carolina to St. Louis in September 2019. A tribute to Faulk, who played his first eight seasons with the Canes, was shown on the big board during the first period.
Skjei beat Hofer with a top-shelf shot, taking a cross-ice pass from Aho on the back door. That came after Andrei Svechnikov, who had two assists, forced a turnover in the neutral zone and got the puck to Aho on the right wall.
Aho then scored off a ripped one-timer on a second-period power play off a Tony DeAngelo pass. It was 2-0, Canes, and could have been 3-0.
Earlier in the second, Jarvis popped in a rebound on a delayed penalty after first forcing Marco Scandella into a tripping call. But the referees ruled that the whistle had stopped play before the Jarvis shot, even as the puck bounced around the crease — no goal for Jarvis.
In the Canes’ 2-1 loss Friday to the Flyers, Jarvis cost himself. He scored but then was ruled to have been offside entering the zone.
The Blues made a push later in the second, scoring with one second left in a power play after Svechnikov was called for roughing. Buchnevich scored off a rebound and nearly had a second goal in the period, Lyon making a sharp save to keep it 2-1.
The Canes will not play at home again until Nov. 28 against Washington, going on the road for six games.
